Battlezone: The Red Odyssey
Battlezone: The Red Odyssey, commonly referred to as The Red Odyssey or by the initialism TRO, is the second official expansion for Battlezone. It introduced two playable factions, the Chinese Red Army and the NSDF Black Dogs, a new campaign for each, and five new multiplayer maps. History Activision began development of an expansion for Battlezone shortly after its release under the name Imperial Insurrection, but the designs were shelved before anything more than a few pieces of concept art could be created. The plans were eventually outsourced to Team Evolve, who grew the concept into The Red Odyssey. Most of Activision's developments were discarded during this period, though the Repair Supply Unit exists in an untextured state in the released expansion's assets and the CCA Rammer design was later re-used for the ISDF Interceptor in Battlezone II. The Red Odyssey only had a limited release; only 400 copies were produced, all released inside the United States.Battlezone Versions Questions on Battlezone Club Second-hand copies are rare, but have in the past sold for prices upwards of USD 800.Battlezone 2nd Expansion The Red Odyssey BIG BOX on eBay Synopsis The Dogs of War campaign follows a Black Dog unit deployed on the Jovian moon Ganymede to gather bio-metal. Two weeks after arriving they are ambushed CRA tanks outfitted with cloaking technology. After regrouping, the Americans discover the Chinese are using a Cthonian technology, the Pegasus Device to travel between Ganymede and the extrasolar planet Elysium. Control of the portal switches hands several times until the Black Dogs finally succeed in annihilating the CRA. Red Storm, the CRA campaign, takes place before the Black Dog missions and follows the CRA's attempts to steal the Pegasus Device from the CCA. Multiplayer The Red Odyssey introduced both new factions to multiplayer, along with five new maps. The 1.5 Patch has since added both factions to Battlezone, though the new maps have yet to follow. 1.3 Patch The Red Odyssey 1.3 patch - not to be confused with the patches of the same version number for Battlezone and Battlezone II - was released on July 31st 1999. It resolved invisibility of the Black Dog Bobcat, fixed Recycler selection with the Black Dog Grizzly in Strategy (it previously provided an NSDF Recycler), and added the Labyrinth deathmatch map.1.3 Patch (The Red Odyssey) Re-release In 1999, the Battlezone Gold Pack was released to commemorate the launch of Battlezone II. It bundled Battlezone and version 1.3 of The Red Odyssey with Battle Grounds, the Battlezone II Demo and the Battlezone Official Strategy Guide, but as before was only released inside the United States. Redux Version Following the announcement of Battlezone 98 Redux there was a great deal of public speculation over whether or not The Red Odyssey would receive the same treatment.Is Battlezone: The Red Odyssey included? on Steam CommunityExpansion included? on Steam Community Rebellion and Big Boat interactive remained evasive on the subject,Interview with Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion Developments on Battlezone Field Report but in late May 2016 SteamDB records revealed the existence of a locked build of Battlezone 98 Redux apparently purporting to contain Red Odyssey content.Battlezone 98 Redux • AppID: 301650 • Steam Database on SteamDB The redux version was officially announced on June 8th.The Red Odyssey Returns! on SteamDB Trivia * The Mandarin text on the coverart for the box is a very rough translation and reads "The Great War in Ao Desai (Odyssey)". The word Odyssey itself was not translated to an equivalent word in Mandarin but instead is a phonetic translation of the word, leading to some slight confusion for players who can read the text. Tro front.png|Front cover Tro rear.jpg|Rear cover Bz_tro_manual.png|Paper Manual|link=Battlezone: The Red Odyssey Manual Bz_tro_manual_html.jpg|Manual|link=Battlezone: The Red Odyssey Manual TRO-CD.png|The Red Odyssey CD Art References Category:Games